Last week I came to the end of my rope, as I was walking out the door and our washing machine had overflowed again! That thing was just like my 5th child, you know how when you want to leave to go somewhere there’s always some kind of crisis or obstacle to overcome with your children. For me it’s been, poopy diapers, they can’t find their Bible, they dropped their money for the offering, or I can’t find my keys…. then the 5th child left water all over the laundry room that I had to stop and vacuum with the carpet cleaner and needless to say we were late to our destination.

The washing machine would fill itself with water and instead of shutting itself off it would just keep going as water poured out onto the floor. During the rinse cycle though it would refill itself and would not overflow, so it beats me why that it would only do it during filling up. My process of dealing with it was let it fill up push the button, wait 5 minutes, then come back and pull the button and it would work fine from there on out. I would just fold laundry in the time in between and I was not having to go to the laundromat, so there was no reason to complain. I had been thanking the Lord for it even though it had been problematic.

Since then my husband replaced it with a new one! Yeah for him! God really caused me to remember how he has provided washing machines and dryers for us through our entire marriage. At our first apartment the washer and dryer was provided, at our 2nd my grandparents bought us a brand new dent and ding washer and gave us their old dryer. When we first moved here a man in our church replaced our “non working” dryer because when we had plugged it in it worked for a minute or two and then quit. When the new dryer came in then we plugged it in and it did not work! Come to find out our breaker had blown and the guy decided to give us the dryer anyway to save us some money in electricity. We were so embarrassed that we did not realize it had only been the breaker, but it was God again providing our needs. Then, the washer’s transmission went out and his uncle that lives in town, knew of one we could have. It was the infamous washer we just replaced. We have had it for about 2 years and replaced parts on it previously. God has provided us some extra money so we could purchase this new one and I am hoping that He will let it run for a very long time.

Something like our appliances are a gift from the Lord and we should not take for granted the blessings He has provided, whether it’s making your broken washing machine go for a little longer, or making your dishsoap last for over a year (that happened to me too)! God may not provide new things for us as quickly as we would like but He may make what we do have last a little longer than it should. Perhaps that is why we should be content with what we have. So what if you have an old TV or are sporting a lemon that is on is last leg, thank God for what He’s provided!

Psalm 68:19 Blessed be the Lord, who daily loadeth us with benefits, even the God of our salvation. Selah.